The US Department of Defense (DOD), with its network-centric operations, has high network address demands and therefore places a priority on the expanded address space. In 2003, it was the first government branch to announce an IPv6 transition policy, declaring that: "The achievement of net-centric operations and warfare, envisioned as the Global Information Grid (GIG) of inter-networked sensors, platforms and other Information Technology/National Security System (IT/NSS) capabilities, depends on effective implementation of IPv6 in concert with other aspects of the GIG architecture." (DOD Memo 2003) The DOD set 2008 as the deadline by which it should complete its IPv6 transition. DOD's transition to IPv6 has been described as "aggressive" and DOD has operational plans that would require a high demand on a network address space.